“There’s a promising start and end, but the bulk of it isn’t as hot.
Here’s what’s weird: Peter Parker is really well-written in the beginning and the end. He’s heroic and funny, the qualities that make Spider-Man better than other heroes.
The bulk of the book isn’t that way.
So here’s what’s telling: Whenever someone makes a new Spider-Man, they give the new Spider-Man spider powers, but they forget what makes Spider-Man read-able. Spider-Man is fun because Spider-Man has a sucky, normal life as his alter ego, and humor is his survival mechanism. That’s what makes Spider-Man like a real person, and that’s what’s usually missing from other Spider-Men.
Just a thought.
I think we also see here something that plays out in lots of comics written by people who aren’t typically writing comics. I think a lot of folks coming from that angle think they’re doing something new and unusual, and they are, just not for comics. Comics have done A LOT over the years, and with very little supervision, so they’ve gone some weird places, and they’ve covered a lot of ground. So, a lot of times it feels like the newbies who come from other realms, like movies, TV, or even prose, will do one of two things:
A) Think they’re doing something brand new with the character, and some of the book rides on novelty, but the readers don’t see it as all that new.
B) Study up and do a version I’d call “correct,” but not all that interesting. They get the character and the universe right, but I think they end up so paralyzed by the reverence or respect for the whole thing that they can’t do anything very interesting. Or, they are so focused on getting it right that the weird little stuff gets lost, and that’s some of the magic.
You can get away with A if you write Saga, because that broke through to a lot of non-comics readers. But that’s rare. You can also get away with it if you write THE definitive version of something, something so damn good that it doesn’t matter if it’s new or not, it’s now the best version of that thing.
You can get away with B for awhile, but not forever, and you won’t make a lasting impact on the form.
I don’t meant to play gatekeeper. I just think any art requires a combo. You have to know about the form, understand the norms and tropes, AND you have to have some good, somewhat new ideas that you’re going to execute.
I should say you don’t HAVE to possess both, but that’s how outstanding comics roll.
I put this book in A. It’s not horrible, but it feels like the writers felt they were doing something very new, when really they were doing a version of something we’ve seen, fairly often.”